Regional Director Melissa Hemphill

Mindset Tips Before Starting the BIRTHFIT Whole 30 Challenge

In my work around nutrition, I do not advocate diets because research shows us that 96% of people who lose weight on a weight loss diet gain it back within a year and 99% gain the weight back within 2 years. The difference between the 99% and the successful 1% is that the 1% isn’t on a life-long diet. There’s no domination of appetite, no punishment, and no self-hate driving the need to change the body. Instead, they consciously choose foods that move them closer towards their health goals and their desired state of being (vibrant, energized, strong, etc) and they choose from a place of worthiness.

With all that said, the one “diet” I do recommend is an elimination diet because, as a tool, it such a wealth of personalized data! After 2-6 weeks of eliminating the most common inflammatory foods/ drinks and methodical reintroduction, you can get very clear on what foods are effective in bringing you closer to your goals and what foods are simply ineffective. Whole 30 outlines the most common effective and ineffective foods.

Before you begin the Whole 30 Challenge, I invite you to make these 30 days different from any other “diet” you’ve done by tasting these little mindset cookies:

Where do you want to go? This is a really hard question. For many people, they are extremely clear on what they don’t They don’t want to be tired, constipated, overweight, moody, hate their body, etc. Consider this analogy: you get into a taxi cab not knowing where you want to go but you have a list of all the places you don’t want to go. How long would it take and how expensive would it be to get to an acceptable destination? What do you want for your health, body, fitness, life?

How will your life be different when you have what you want? This might be an even harder question than the first. The answer is often buried in the subconscious and is what I call “the golden nugget.” When you find it, you can stop putting it into the future and start creating those desired effects right now. Here’s a personal example: My goal is to qualify for the American Open in Olympic Weightlifting. My life will be different because I will have credibility in my fitness leadership. Before I asked myself this question, I realized I was using this goal as an excuse to not show up as a leader. I was walking a path of non-leadership hoping it would take me to a place of authentic leadership. How pointless is that? After I got clear on this question, I decided to start creating an experience of authentic leadership now, before the AO-qualifying total. What’s been so fascinating is that living into this has taken me closer to my goal than ever before. What’s your golden nugget?

There are no “bad foods” in the Whole 30 Challenge. We love to moralize food. We eat these “good foods” and we are good people; we eat these “bad foods” and we are bad people. You don’t need the BIRTHFIT Whole 30 Challenge because you’ve “been bad” through the holidays. Instead, try on the possibility that food is neither morally good nor bad—it just is. Breathing, sleeping, and eating are not morally indicative behaviors. What if you went into the Whole 30 Challenge from a place of play and experimentation? What will you learn about yourself through the month? Are you attached to moralizing food? How do you feel during this challenge? Are you moving closer towards your goals or away from them? What delicious meals are you creating?

As always, BIRTHFIT is on your team! Please reach out if you need any additional support in your Whole 30 Challenge! To learn more and/or sign up, click here.